WINTER PARK, Fla. – Ever since a speeding car crashed and killed two women on New Years Eve in 2017, neighbors near North Orange Avenue and U.S. 17-92 have been pushing to get results.
Monday, our News 6 revisited the Orwin Manor neighborhood to see the progress from a Florida Department of Transportation project designed to make the roadway safer.
Seven years after the deadly wreck, construction to improve N. Orange Avenue from Clay Avenue to Orlando Avenue (U.S. 17-92) didn’t begin until recently.
Stephen Pategas has called the neighborhood home since 1985. He says changes to the road have been a long time coming, but he’s happy to see something has finally been done.
“It was too long, but FDOT responded quickly. Unfortunately, it took a fatal accident to make that happen,” said Pategas.
Pategas says there have been dozens of other crashes through the years that led neighbors and News 6 to push to get results. After the deadly wreck in 2017, FDOT conducted a traffic study and came up with a plan to enhance roadway and pedestrian safety along North Orange Avenue, but it took years for construction to start.
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Improvements to the road are now visible where North Orange Avenue was reduced to one travel lane in each direction and a center turn lane. There is also a raised crosswalk near the neighborhood park that slows down speeding cars.
“This is something the neighborhood insisted on,” said Pategas. “Otherwise you had to walk half a mile to get to a crosswalk, and this way we have a rapid flashing beacon that’s going to be operational soon, and it’s right at our park.”
Other changes being made by FDOT include: pavement widening, milling, and resurfacing; construction of new sidewalks and bus pads; construction of new drainage structures; replacement of signs and pavement markings; signalization improvements; construction of new mast arms; tree removal; pruning of trees and branches; inclusion of new lighting structures; and utility relocation along North Orange Avenue from Clay Avenue to South Orlando Avenue.
Pategas, who is president of the Orwin Manor neighborhood association, says families are pleased to see their push for change got results.
“The neighbors are thrilled,” said Pategas. “It’s much safer pulling out from intersections, from driveways.”
FDOT expects construction to be completed by early 2025.
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